South Korea blames North Korea for cyber attacks

SOUTH Korea said today that an initial investigation has found that North Korean government agents were behind a March cyber attack that shut down about 32,000 computers and servers at South Korean broadcasters and banks.

An official at South Korea’s internet security agency, Chun Kil-soo, said investigators have determined that the attack was similar to past North Korean hacking and have attributed it to a military-run espionage agency.

He said investigators believe that six computers in North Korea were used to access South Korean servers using more than 1,000 IP addresses overseas. Chun said 13 of those IP addresses were traced back to North Korea.

He said the attack apparently had been planned for about eight months before it was launched.

The accusation comes as tensions run high on the Korean Peninsula, with North Korea delivering increasingly belligerent rhetoric in anger over UN sanctions and US-South Korean military drills. On Tuesday, the North said a nuclear war was imminent and recommended that foreigners in South Korea evacuate to safe places.

The accusation comes as North Korea completes preparations for a missile test that could occur any day, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said, as Pyongyang prepares to mark the April 15 birthday of its founder.